Photoresist are employed in the manufacture of devices having a varying topology such as circuit patterns. Typically the photoresist is applied by various well known techniques and imaged through a mask using actinic radiation such as ultraviolet light. Photoresists can be either positive acting or negative acting. In the negative acting resists actinic radiation causes the exposed areas to polymerize. The non-polymerized areas of photoresist are removed in a solvent during development. In the positive acting resists, the opposite occurs, and the exposed areas are removed after development. The workpiece is then processed, typically the workpiece is etched to remove portions of the surface that are not protected by the photoresist or additive plating is performed. Thereafter, the remaining photoresist is stripped from the substrate typically using organic solvents. Such organic solvents are increasingly becoming the subject of governmental regulation. Moreover, stripping solvents are typically costly to dispose of and precautions must be taken to vent volatile solvents during use.
For example, to strip conventional polyisoprene photoresists, which are negative acting resists, chemical strippers containing perchloroethylene, o-dichlorobenzene, phenol, and dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid and solvents such as xylene and isopropanol are employed. These solvents are costly to dispose of off site, and under certain conditions fail to completely remove the photoresist. It is desirable to have an alternative stripping method to thoroughly remove photoresist that does not require costly disposal and which are more environmentally friendly than conventional stripping procedures.